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Apple watch has Water Damage

A

Aces2412

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 21, 2012
116
1
Near DC
Well it happened. I pushed it maybe to hard and the watch has water under the screen. It has turned colors and has a spot that is growing. It made it through he wash alright but did not like swimming a 1000 yard workout. I think it should be covered under the 1 year warranty.

I have applecare just in case.
 
Is this the one with the cracked screen? If so, was the screen repaired or was the watch a total replacement?
 
I expect we will see quite a few threads like this if more people start swimming with them. You can try to see if apple will replace it under warranty, but be aware that if you are honest about the fact that you took it swimming you probably won't be covered.
 
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exxxviii said:
Is this the one with the cracked screen? If so, was the screen repaired or was the watch a total replacement?
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You are correct. It has a very small crack. Its been in the water several times with no issue but I guess the long swim did it in. I was not going to waste 70 bucks and one of my 2 opps repairs on a small crack.
 
Aces2412 said:
You are correct. It has a very small crack. Its been in the water several times with no issue but I guess the long swim did it in. I was not going to waste 70 bucks and one of my 2 opps repairs on a small crack.
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I cracked screen of course won't be covered under warranty, so you will have to use 1 of your Apple Cares. There is NO real way to avoid water damage with a hole in the (cracked) screen. So it was sooner or later going to happen.
 
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Methinks Apple will deny regular warranty. One glance with the combination of the crack plus water damage will tell the story it is outside the scope of regular warranty coverage. I hope AC works out for you.
 
Aces2412 said:
You are correct. It has a very small crack. Its been in the water several times with no issue but I guess the long swim did it in. I was not going to waste 70 bucks and one of my 2 opps repairs on a small crack.
Click to expand...

I could be completely wrong - but it doesn't make much sense to me to have a cracked Apple Watch and then go swimming with it. Am I wrong?
 
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Okay, you took a cracked watch under water and it got water damage. This should not be covered under warranty. But you have AC+, so anyway, you can pay to replace the whole watch.
 
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Spink10 said:
I could be completely wrong - but it doesn't make much sense to me to have a cracked Apple Watch and then go swimming with it. Am I wrong?
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You are also correct. Not smart, if I have to pay the $69.00 to get the screen fixed then I was going to see how it did swimming. I did not do very well keeping the cal count, maybe I needed to have it on real tight. Some developers are coming out with swim apps. for 2.0.

Do I expect it to be covered under the 1 yr....no, because of the cracked screen.

Do I swim with the replacement?
 
I only take it in the shower because Tim Cook publicly said he did and if I ever have a problem the Apple Genius will be reading the article.
 
Aces2412 said:
Well it happened. I pushed it maybe to hard and the watch has water under the screen. It has turned colors and has a spot that is growing. It made it through he wash alright but did not like swimming a 1000 yard workout. I think it should be covered under the 1 year warranty.

I have applecare just in case.
Click to expand...

my rule of thumb is, if i'm in a jam, borderline warranty/SOL, I'd ask very nicely. I have a feeling you'll get the watch replaced without a problem.
 
Aces2412 said:
I would like it to be covered under the 1 yr warranty, but it probably will not be. Just hoping.
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Run your car into a tree and crack the radiator. Continue driving until the engine is damaged. Now carry it in and expect the bumper, radiator and engine to be replaced under warranty.
 
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Spink10 said:
I only take it in the shower because Tim Cook publicly said he did and if I ever have a problem the Apple Genius will be reading the article.
Click to expand...

would that actually be covered under the standard warranty, and you would not have to use AC+? I guess it would depend on what genius you get.
 
How generous is ac? I would expect that it would repair a cracked screen, which I would imagine is a trivial fix. However the op has now deliberately completely ruined his watch by taking it underwater with a cracked screen.

Apple doesn't recommend swimming with a watch that isn't broken, so I would imagine water damage due to swimmimg might not be covered. Of course you could just say you fell in accidently.
 
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srshaw said:
How generous is ac? I would expect that it would repair a cracked screen, which I would imagine is a trivial fix. However the op has now deliberately completely ruined his watch by taking it underwater with a cracked screen.

Apple doesn't recommend swimming with a watch that isn't broken, so I would imagine water damage due to swimmimg might not be covered. Of course you could just say you fell in accidently.
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Even if you fell in and managed to shatter the screen at the same time, you're still out $69 deductible under AC+.

Other than that, whether you take it swimming is irrelevant, Apple is obligated to replaced water ingress under the standard warranty, given that it's advertised and sold with an IPX7 rating (waterproof to 1 meter for 30 min). This of course doesn't apply to the OP as he took it swimming after the fact.
 
srshaw said:
How generous is ac? I would expect that it would repair a cracked screen, which I would imagine is a trivial fix. However the op has now deliberately completely ruined his watch by taking it underwater with a cracked screen.

Apple doesn't recommend swimming with a watch that isn't broken, so I would imagine water damage due to swimmimg might not be covered. Of course you could just say you fell in accidently.
Click to expand...
Apple Care+ covers a damaged :apple:Watch, period. To Apple it doesn't matter if it's a small cracked crystal or water logged through. The :apple:Watch is a glued together commodity (the crystal is laminated/glued to the OLED and this is glued to the case). They will just replace and send the broken one to be recycled.

Also since the crystal was cracked it doesn't matter if you swim or just wash you hands. Either one could ingress water into the OLED.

EDIT: Not sure if the poster was talking about Apple Care+ or just Apple Care warranty. Apple should drop this confusing distention.
 
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